In a cedar-scented cabin tucked into the misty forests of British Columbia, Bill Kozinski, wanted to do some good in the world. Kozinski was a drop-out from Simon Fraser’s Beedie School of Business, who, after sitting in the library facing a finance midterm, suddenly felt nothing – no joy, no hunger, not even relief. The next morning he walked past a flyer for the Shambhala Centre, a silent retreat in Nelson BC. He tore it down, folded it into his pocket and signed up without knowing why.

Two years and three cities later, he sat cross-legged on a yoga mat and a single candle flickered on a low wooden table, casting shadows that looked like Pramahansa Yogananda and Sri Yukteswar among the unique faces populating the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club. Kozinski, was no ordinary musician. He had sought the still point of existence, and now lived quietly, working as a handy man and playing the local coffeehouse. His guitar, a Takamine with a pick-up no longer working, was a compass with no needle, yet when he played it always led him home.

Lately, he was captivated by Mark Carney, Canada’s new Prime Minister. Carney was a former central banker who rose to power amid fears of tariffs under Trump’s administration. Kozinski thought to write a song about his resilience and strength. That was what he discerned from the CBC. He strummed a gentle arpeggio. Kozinski imagined Carney, once a Harvard hockey goaltender, deflecting political and economic shots. But the chorus proved elusive. Realizing his assumptions were not based on enough research he travelled to the local library in Lillooet and started Googling. He was presented with new views. Challenging views.

Chief among them from the former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, calling Carney an “incompetent manager” referring to his Bank of England tenure. But he also observed Truss lost her Prime Ministership quickly he wondered what to make of her poisonous opinions. Maybe she was thrown out for incompetence…or maybe it was sexism…. or maybe she rightly warned Canadians Carney was a moron – and now he’s running Canada! Then Kozinski recalled Trump runs America and David Eby British Columbia. Perhaps being a moron is a prerequisite he thought. Now he wondered if a better song might be about what he learned at the Shambhala centre that wisdom meant seeing reality clearly, without attachment to illusions. Later at home meditating he let the uncertainty sit like a stone in a river.

Now he noticed his desire to write a tribute clashing with the reality of Carney’s record. Wisdom, he realized, wasn’t about perfection, it was about acting with awareness, even amid ambiguity. Kozinski’s uncertainty was a call to refine the song, to find words that honored truth over idealization, perhaps letting the chorus remain unwritten until clarity emerged. His breath slowed, and the doubt dissolved like ripples in a pond. Carney’s own words seemed a koan: “It’s always important to distinguish want from reality.” Kozinski rested the guitar in its case appreciating the fact that notes could resonate without judgment.